Articles | Volume 24, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4083-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4083-2024
Research article
 | 
08 Apr 2024
Research article |  | 08 Apr 2024

Sharp increase in Saharan dust intrusions over the western Euro-Mediterranean in February–March 2020–2022 and associated atmospheric circulation

Emilio Cuevas-Agulló, David Barriopedro, Rosa Delia García, Silvia Alonso-Pérez, Juan Jesús González-Alemán, Ernest Werner, David Suárez, Juan José Bustos, Gerardo García-Castrillo, Omaira García, África Barreto, and Sara Basart

Related authors

From CMIP6 to eddy-rich models: does very-high resolution improve the representation of Mediterranean heavy precipitation events?
Ramiro I. Saurral, Anna Martín-Perellón, Diego A. Campos, Juan Jesús González-Alemán, Saskia Loosveldt-Tomas, and Pablo Ortega
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4187,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4187, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Earth System Dynamics (ESD).
Short summary
Revisiting the three largest surface ozone episodes in Europe during 2003–2022 using circulation analogues
Tahimy Fuentes-Alvarez, Carlos Ordóñez, Ricardo García-Herrera, David Barriopedro, and Jose Manuel Garrido-Perez
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3914,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3914, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Extending the late 1963 to 1964 Mt Agung rescued searchlight aerosol profiles dataset at 32° N, from early 1963 to 1975
Juan Carlos Antuña-Marrero, Abel Calle, Juan Antonio Añel, Victoria Cachorro, Laura de la Torre, David Barriopedro, Ricardo García Herrera, and Javier Pacheco
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 4669–4676, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4669-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4669-2026, 2026
Short summary
Ground-based MFRSR UV-Vis spectral retrievals of Saharan dust absorption at Izaña Observatory
Hiren Jethva, Nickolay Krotkov, Omar Torres, Jungbin Mok, Gordon Labow, Elena Lind, Tom Eck, Wei Gao, George Janson, Scott Simpson, Darrin Sharp, Kathy Lantz, Charles Wilson, Africa Barreto, Rosa García, Sergey Korkin, and David Flittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 4335–4365, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-4335-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-4335-2026, 2026
Short summary
Ammonia variability and trends from globally distributed FTIR measurements and model simulations
Beatriz Herrera, Enrico Dammers, Martine De Maziere, Omaira Garcia, Michel Grutter, James W. Hannigan, Dylan B. A. Jones, Nicholas Jones, Emmanuel Mahieu, Maria Makarova, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, Isamu Morino, Isao Murata, Ivan Ortega, Mathias Palm, Anatoly Poverovskii, Takashi Sekiya, Dan Smale, Hannah Sill, Wolfgang Stremme, Ralf Sussmann, Geoffrey Toon, Corinne Vigouroux, Wei Wang, Tyler Wizenberg, and Kimberly Strong
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3138,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3138, 2026
Short summary

Cited articles

Adebiyi, A. A. and Kok, J. F.: Climate models miss most of the coarse dust in the atmosphere, Sci. Adv., 6, eaaz9507, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz9507, 2020. 
Aghababaeian, H., Ostadtaghizadeh, A., Ardalan, A., Asgary, A., Akbary, M., Yekaninejad, M. S., and Stephens, C.: Global Health Impacts of Dust Storms: A Systematic Review, Environ. Health Insights, 15, 1–28, https://doi.org/10.1177/11786302211018390, 2021. 
Alonso-Pérez, S., Cuevas, E., and Querol, X.: Objective identification of synoptic meteorological patterns favouring African dust intrusions into the marine boundary layer of the subtropical eastern north Atlantic region, Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 113, 109–124, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-011-0150-z, 2011. 
Ashpole, I. and Washington, R.: Intraseasonal variability and atmospheric controls on daily dust occurrence frequency over the central and Western Sahara during the boreal summer, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 12915–12926, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020267, 2013. 
Bacer, S., Jomaa, F., Beaumet, J., Gallée, H., Le Bouëdec, E., Ménégoz, M., and Staquet, C.: Impact of climate change on wintertime European atmospheric blocking, Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 377–389, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-377-2022, 2022. 
Download
Short summary
During February–March (FM) 2020–2022, unusually intense dust storms from northern Africa hit the western Euro-Mediterranean (WEM). Using dust products from satellites and atmospheric reanalysis for 2003–2022, results show that cut-off lows and European blocking are key drivers of FM dust intrusions over the WEM. A higher frequency of cut-off lows associated with subtropical ridges is observed in the late 2020–2022 period.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint